By Khaya Ndaba
The best of Africa and Europe come together in the form of Kamohelo Khoaripe, aka Michael Dangerous, who has crossed all musical boundaries to make himself an international sensation.
Kamohelo, who grew up in Daveyton in Benoni, was always surrounded by sound – from kwaito to Bacardi, house and whatever was pumping from the sound systems of his township.
“I was exposed to music everywhere I went. It was part of my life at home, at the local car wash and at street bashes and taverns. There was music all around me,” the 32-year-old said.
In a classic case of boy meets girl, he fell for a beautiful Swedish girl by chance. They started dating and he moved to Sweden in 2013, where he was introduced to the Scandinavian nightlife.
There he met local DJ/producers Adrian Lux, Carli Lof and Mans Glaeser. The trio were in a constant state of searching – looking for a new sound they could introduce to the local dance scene.
“The guys introduced me to the electronic scene. It was a bit of a mindf*ck coz I didn’t know that alternative music was that big there,” he said.
“When I started playing our music from SA they were instantly hooked! So we began to collaborate.”
They formed a group called Off The Meds, with Kamohelo their vocalist and frontman. In 2017 they released their first single, called “Geraas”, which made a big noise in Europe, Australia, and South and North America.
Next they released an EP called The Meds Are Kicking In, in February 2018, followed by an Ethio-jazz sampling hip-house track called “Currency Low”.
In 2020, their self-titled full album landed the group their first Swedish “Grammis” award for the best Dance/Electro album of the year.
But perhaps their greatest achievement thus far was having their song “Ekse”, included on the soundtrack of the Marvel movie Morbius, which was released in 2022.
Kamohelo’s first solo album is currently in production.
It is scheduled to be released in late 2023. He promises that it will be a variation of his classical whispering, rapping and whistling on top of the bass speaker, which fans of their live shows have become used to and love to bits.
Pictured above: Michael Dangerous
Image source: Supplied
